Foster Care: How it Can Change Lives for the Better

Foster care is a system or an arrangement that provides a home for kids who are unable to live in their own parental homes. These kids have suffered far-reaching predicament due to a number of factors, which include but are not limited to broken marriages, death of biological parents, uncontrollable kids, loss of jobs, bankruptcy, or incapacitation of parents due to injury or sickness. Being a worldwide need, foster care only has one necessary requirement; open hearts by families and individuals to embrace such vulnerable kids with the aim of bridging the gap. It differs from an adoption since the child does not become yours.

The main purpose of foster care is to ensure that the life of a child is not disrupted as a result of prevailing negative conditions back home. Such a child is expected to go back to the real parents once the issues are resolved and the atmosphere is conducive again for physical, emotional, and intellectual development.

How it Works

A balanced and reliable living environment is what foster care ideally provides. After registering with the relevant local authorities, the esteemed foster parent is then free to proceed and offer foster care to the beneficiary in any of the following ways depending on the need:

Short-term care – is principally taking care of the kid for a few days, weeks, or months as the situation is being monitored. It is better termed as day-to-day or one day at a time parental care of the affected kid to meet all his/her needs as a child.

Long-term care – lasts for as long as the young one is below age 18, after which the contract comes to an end with the possibility of instituting new terms of engagement.

Emergency care – on request for kids who are abruptly disadvantaged as their issues are addressed or to allow for long-lasting solutions to be arrived at.

Short breaks – designed to help other care providers by removing the burden off of their shoulders temporarily to enable them to enjoy a breather and then resume.

Intensive care – particularly for children with conditions like paralysis, epilepsy, physical or mental disability, and other conditions that do not allow them to live normal lives.

How the Life of the Child is changed for the Better

Foster care ensures that the affected kid’s academic, and by extension, professional life, is not disrupted and that no time is wasted in his/her academic calendar on the face of an inhospitable atmosphere at home or lack of accommodation. Psychological and emotional support offered by the foster parents ensures that the child remains stable, healthy, and productive. This contributes to his/her general well-being, which is instrumental in ensuring a secured future through the unlocking of the kid’s potential.

Unruly and troublesome kids who could not be assisted by their own parents may find foster parents who are well equipped to address their unique challenges and help them transform, grow, and realize their dreams in life.

How the Life of the Foster Parent is changed for the Better

Knowing that your contribution and service as a foster carer has made a big difference in the life of a needy child is in itself very fulfilling. Your self-image and self-worth are tremendously enhanced by the degree of positive impact you make in another person’s life. Tahir Khan from Perpetual Fostering says that when you are a foster parent, you love and treat the children under your care as if they were your own. In the process, you become emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically fulfilled.

In case you’re keen on offering foster care but still has lingering questions on how to go about it or where to start, relevant agencies will be very much at hand to satisfactorily respond to such queries and get you started on this life-changing course.

Retirees and jobless persons can find fostering kids a very fruitful, effective, and a rewarding way to spend their lives. You stand to foster the child worry-free courtesy of an allowance which foots all the bills of the child under your care. In addition to that, a generous reward is also paid to foster care providers at a rate determined by the current placement type. This unique opportunity provides a special avenue to enlarge family base since fostered kids tend to develop permanent relationships with their foster families.

Foster Care is a noble call that requires you to give love and the much-needed support to young and distressed persons selflessly. In return, you stand to enjoy the reward of their company and individual fulfillment as a result of your highly treasured service.

Heather, the mom behind OurKidsMom, is located in western Missouri. She is 3rd grade teacher turned stay at home mom with 4 children: Ethan (9), Emma (10), Joshua (20) and Kaytlin (25). She spends her "free time" at the gym, planning her next travel adventure, blogging, browsing Pinterest for her next craft and reviewing great products for her family and home.

Be sure to check out all posts by Heather and subscribe via RSS or EMAIL so you don't miss a thing!